Rep. Menendez (D-NJ) Leads 48 Representatives in Condemning HUD’s Targeting of Immigrant Communities and Data Sharing with Homeland Security

On April 17, Representative Robert Menendez (D-NJ) led 48 House Democrats in a letter to HUD Secretary Scott Turner opposing the agency’s escalating use of housing programs to target immigrant communities. The letter condemns HUD’s new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the rollback of “Fair Housing Act” enforcement, and recent changes to HUD’s Federal Housing Administration mortgage eligibility. The lawmakers warn that these actions will deepen fear among immigrant communities and will harm both U.S. citizens’ and immigrants’ access to housing. 

The lawmakers argue that HUD’s Memorandum with DHS represents an unprecedented and dangerous interagency data-sharing scheme. The letter raises serious concerns that personally identifiable information collected by HUD could be weaponized to facilitate deportation or “self-eviction” campaigns, in violation of the “Privacy Act.” They emphasize that current federal law already bars undocumented immigrants from accessing federal housing benefits and reject Secretary Turner’s narrative that further restrictions are necessary to prevent misuse of taxpayer funds. 

“We staunchly oppose the use of limited federal housing resources to stoke fear and facilitate deportations,” the lawmakers wrote. They continue: “[T]here are rightful concerns about sharing sensitive information, including place of residence, with DHS. These well-founded fears will deter mixed-status families, U.S. citizens, and other eligible individuals from pursuing housing assistance.” 

The letter also denounces HUD’s decision to eliminate eligibility for non-permanent residents seeking FHA-insured mortgages. This change, the lawmakers warn, will exclude refugees, asylees, survivors of violence, and DACA recipients from the possibility of homeownership—even though the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund receives no taxpayer subsidies and remains overcapitalized. Rather than increasing access to housing, the policy narrows it and targets immigrant families who have long contributed to the program’s solvency. 

Additionally, the letter calls attention to HUD’s rollback of fair housing enforcement mechanisms, including plans to terminate 77% of staff at the Office of Fair and Equal Housing Opportunity and rescind funding for nonprofit enforcement partners. Lawmakers warn that these changes will severely undermine protections against housing discrimination and push immigrant families further into housing precarity. 

The lawmakers conclude: “We share your disappointment that HUD can ‘only serve one out of [the] four Americans that [it] should be serving.’ Yet immigrants aren’t to blame; Congress’s underfunding of the federal housing budget is. Your subsequent pledge to provide more U.S. citizens benefits rings hollow as you decimate staffing and funding for our nation’s existing housing infrastructure.” 

Signers of the letter include Representatives Menendez (D-NJ), Velázquez (D-NY), Carbajal (D-CA), Soto (D-FL), Holmes Norton (Del-DC), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Espaillat (D-NY), Escobar (D-TX), McGovern (D-MA), Hernández (D-IL), Dexter (D-OR), Correa (D-CA), Ramirez (D-IL), Gomez (D-CA), Tlaib (D-MI), Tonko (D-NY), Cleaver (D-MO), McCollum (D-MN), Balint (D-VT), García (D-IL), Clarke (D-NY), Beatty (D-OH), Ansari (D-AZ), Garcia (D-TX), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Ruiz (D-CA), Vargas (D-CA), Evans (D-PA), Lieu (D-CA), Smith (D-WA), Jayapal (D-WA), Cisneros (D-CA), Jacobs (D-CA), Williams (D-GA), Thanedar (D-MI), Scott (D-GA), Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), McIver (D-NJ), McBride (D-DE), Bonamici (D-OR), Barragán (D-CA), DeGette (D-CO), Moore (D-WI), Tokuda (D-HI), Rivas (D-CA), Liccardo (D-CA), Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Amo (D-RI), and Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) 

Read the full letter here.  

Read the press release here.